75 People You Should Know: Forensic psychologist says field is about 'understanding someone'

Corina Curry Staff writer @corinacurry

Tuesday

Apr 17, 2018 at 10:35 AMApr 17, 2018 at 10:35 AM

ROCKFORD — Matt Finn is used to people being fascinated by what he does.

Even after he tells them that he doesn't work for the FBI and that it isn't like it is on TV, the mere mention of "forensic psychology" — the intersection of psychology and the criminal justice system — typically is followed by many questions about interesting cases and what the work entails.

Finn likes to think it's because people want to understand each other, and in the end, help each other.

"The field is really about understanding someone — to understand why they’re doing what they’re doing, why they’re feeling what they're feeling and why are they reacting to that feeling the way that they do," Finn said. "Then, the next step is helping someone."

Finn has spent much of his career working with prisoners and jail inmates — performing mental health evaluations, determining fitness for trial, testifying in court and providing therapy. When he's not working as a forensic psychologist, he's teaching the next generation of them at Adler University in Chicago.

Finn's career in forensic psychology started in the 1990s while he pursued his master's and doctorate degrees in psychology at Adler. Finn was looking for clinical experiences. He worked at a nursing home, a grade school and with a group of sex-offenders.

"At the time, I wasn't even looking to do anything with people with criminal backgrounds," he said. "I was interested in it because it was group work. I wanted a wide range of experience."

As it turns out, when Finn completed his studies and was looking for a job, the state was creating a new sexually violent persons program in Joliet and was looking for psychologists to provide the program's therapy. Finn did that for nearly three years.

Then he went to work for a prison. At Dixon Correctional Center, Finn provided individual and group therapy to inmates. Instead of specializing in sexually violent persons, his work covered the gamut of mental health issues. He did that for nine years.

Today Finn teaches at Adler and still does a fair amount of work in jails and courthouses across northern Illinois. He also provides education and training to local organizations and businesses seeking to learn more about mental health issues and challenges as they relate to their work.

He recently presented a seminar on homelessness to employees of the Rockford Public Library.

"That kind of training is just to help people understand why people may be acting the way they're acting or look the way they look," Finn said. Mental illness is common among the homeless, he said. "There's a lot of trauma. There are substance use issues. There are thought disorders."

Finn is a 48-year-old native of Oak Park. He grew up in the Chicago suburbs attending Lyons Township High School. He went to DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana, before returning to the Chicago area for his graduate and post-graduate studies.

He moved to Rockford with his wife, Bridget, in 2004. The couple have three children, ages 15, 14 and 12.

When he's not assessing the mental fitness of someone facing felony charges or helping someone try to change their life for the better, Finn is spending time with his family, hitting the trails at Rock Cut State Park or practicing the banjo.

"I picked up the banjo three and a half years ago. I never did anything musical in my life. I thought, 'If I'm going to pick up an instrument, it's now or never,'" he said. "I'm not very good at it. I'm still very much a beginner. ... But it's fun. It's a whole new kind of learning."

Despite the seriousness of his work, Finn said, he sees himself as an optimist. He's encouraged by the heightened awareness to community mental health issues in recent decades.

"Because of the de-institutionalization of the mentally ill in Illinois, a lot of people who used to be in hospitals are in communities now, and the community-based resources that were supposed to be put in place to help them have not been put in place.

"That's how I ended up in the Department of Corrections. That's where the mentally ill end up now. They get arrested because they go places they're not supposed to go. They do things and say things that make people nervous and call the police. So, they end up in the criminal justice system.

"This may be my hopeful side. ... I do think more people are recognizing that they are part of the community and instead of trying to get rid of them are trying to figure out how to serve them."

Corina Curry: 815-987-1371; ccurry@rrstar.com; @corinacurry

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